


Auld Lang Syne

by Serenitys_Lady



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: F/M, Fluff, New Year's Eve, Reflection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-21 06:27:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15551679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serenitys_Lady/pseuds/Serenitys_Lady
Summary: A little fluff to begin the New Year





	Auld Lang Syne

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The Doctor and Donna are kind enough to let me play in their blue box, for which I am ever grateful.
> 
> A/N: The Doctor is watching the fireball swinging that takes place in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire in north-east Scotland, on New Year’s Eve (or Hogmanay).

The TARDIS sat in a snowy field just outside of a sleepy little town on the Scottish coast.  The Doctor stood at the open doors, staring into the distance.  He didn’t notice his companion until she wrapped her arms around his waist.  
  
“Whatcha looking at, Time Boy?” she purred in his ear.  
  
He hugged her arms tighter to him and smiled.  “Just watching the fireballs in the distance.  Humans are amazing creatures.  They take an implement of potential destruction and use it to express joy at the beginning of a new year.”  
  
Donna Noble moved around to his side and looked toward the town.  “It’s what we do.  Take what we have and make the best of it.”  
  
He put his arm across her shoulder and she leaned into him.  Soon the sound of singing wafted through the air.  
  


**Should auld acquaintance be forgot,**  
**and never brought to mind?**  
**Should auld acquaintance be forgot,**  
**and auld lang syne*?**

  
She felt him tense slightly and sensed, rather than heard, the sigh that escaped his lips.  Stepping away, she looked up at him and asked, “What’s wrong, love?”  
  
He gave a wry, lopsided smile.  “Just that song.   **‘Should auld acquaintance be forgot?’** That’s the thing.  I don’t forget.  I  _can’t_  forget.  All of my  _‘auld acquaintances’_ are still, always here.”  He tapped his temple sharply with his finger.  “Susan, Ian, Jamie, Peri, Tegan, Ace, Romana, Leela.”  He paused and sighed again.  “There were so many.  Liz, Jo, Adric, Nyssa.  All gone.”  There was a longer pause as his memories flooded his mind.  “Sarah Jane,” he whispered.  
  
“And Rose,” she added softly.  Reaching up and stroking his cheek, she said, “Don’t fret, Theta.  They are all still here,” and she put her hands over his hearts.  
  
He covered her hands with his.  “ I know.  It’s just hard to always remember them sometimes.  They left.  Because they should.  Or they found someone else. And some of them, some of them would have forgotten me.”  
  
“Well, then.  Wasn’t it a good thing that I was around to stop you from doing something incredibly stupid?” a voice called out behind them.  
  
The Doctor chuckled and turned, as his twin walked toward them from the kitchen.  He was holding three flutes of champagne and held them out to them.  Donna took two and handed one to the Doctor.  
  
“Yes, Andy dear.  We are both eternally grateful that you ...  _persuaded_  ... Theta to let you redirect the Time Lord energy and save me from burning,” Donna replied with a roll of her eyes.  “How long do you intend to hold it over our heads?” she asked teasingly.  
  
He beamed at her.  “Oh, I kind of like the sound of that  _‘eternally.’_ ”  
  
She swatted his arm with her free hand.  “Cheeky git,” she cried.  
  
The Doctor smiled over at him.  “He does have a point, the prat.  If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have the most important woman in the whole wide Universe at my side as my bond-mate.”  
  
“ ** _We_**  wouldn’t, brother.  Remember, if it’s in your head, it’s in mine.   ** _We_**  are bonded to the magnificent Donna Noble.”  
  
“Now, no squabbling, husbands.  There’s more than enough of me to go around!”  She put out her hand and drew the Doctor’s twin to her side.  
  
They stood together, the Doctor’s arm around Donna’s waist, hers around Andy’s, looking out the TARDIS doors at the fireworks that lit up the night sky.  The Doctor stared into his glass, watching the bubbles form and float.  He turned to his bond-mates and smiled.  
  
“Maybe Rabbie had it right after all,” he mused.   **‘We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet, for auld lang syne,*’**  he quoted, with a slight brogue tingeing his voice.  His wife and his twin nodded in understanding and agreement.  
  
Raising their glasses, they silently toasted their former companions and each thanked whatever deities they believed in for having been brought together in this Time and Space.  They sipped their champagne and gave each other the traditional kiss, to begin the New Year with love and devotion.  
  
As the display dimmed, the doors slowly closed and the three full Time Lords walked arm in arm toward their bedroom, joy and contentment exuding from their very souls.  The TARDIS breathed in the harmony – and the pheromones – that filled her halls, and she chuckled to herself.  Life was about to get more interesting.

 

  
  
* original words by Robert (Rabbie) Burns


End file.
